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Ohio Northern 1, Ohio Wesleyan 0
Sept. 24, 2008
Ohio Northern's Christian Huelsman scored early in the second half to break a scoreless tie, and the Polar Bears held on to escape with a non-conference win over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday at Roy Rike Field.
The Polar Bears outshot the Bishops, 10-9, during the first half, and enjoyed a 6-0 edge in corner kicks, but were not able to translate those advantages into a goal. Meanwhile, Ohio Northern keeper Aaron Collins racked up 5 saves in keeping Ohio Wesleyan off the scoreboard.
Ohio Wesleyan's best chance came early in the second half when freshman midfielder Travis Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) ripped a shot at the Polar Bear goal. Collins made the save, and the rebound went to sophomore midfielder Ryan Harmanis (Hilliard/Davidson). Harmanis followed with a shot that appeared to be headed into the left side of the net, but Ohio Northern defender Brendan Crowley slid in from the right side and cleared the ball off the goal line. Sophomore forward Tyler Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) got to the loose ball first, but his follow shot was wide.
The tide turned for Ohio Northern less than a minute later when Huelsman took a shot from the right side. Junior goalkeeper Richard Ott (Norwalk) appeared to be in position to make a routine save, but the ball squirted through his arms and continued on between his legs and into the Bishop goal with 36:54 left in regulation time.
Ott kept the game close, punching away Ben Tarkany's header off a Polar Bear corner kick in the 62nd minute, and later grabbing a header by Jimmy Matuszak off an Ohio Northern free kick.
Tyler Wall followed with a run up the right side that ended with a shot that nearly hooked inside the left post, and later in the half, Travis Wall and freshman forward Matt Bonfini (Dublin/Coffman) ran a give-and-go that saw Bonfini's shot grabbed by Collins near the left post.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Ohio Northern, 20-17. Ott finished with 3 saves for the Bishops, while Coleman had 9 saves for the Polar Bears.